


Cosmic Beauty

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Confessions, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gentle Kissing, Kissing, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27136231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: Narvin and Leela are watching a Gallifreyan sunrise, but Narvin can't quite bring himself to pay attention to the view because "cosmic beauty can't compete with love."
Relationships: Leela (Doctor Who)/Narvin (Doctor Who)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Cosmic Beauty

**Author's Note:**

> I just...I couldn't help it. When I say this is tooth-rotting fluff, I mean _tooth-rotting fluff_. 
> 
> Title from the poem "Beauty Can't Compete" by Emile Pinet.

It was the first true Gallifreyan sunrise Narvin had ever seen.

He had always viewed the suns rising through the bubble of the Citadel and the windows of the Capitol. But now, the colours blazed before him, fierce and bright, painting the sky with its fiery reddish-orange hue that was the distinct shade of home. A breeze lightly ruffled his hair. He heard Leela breathe a deep sigh and rubbed his cheek against the crown of her head. He closed his eyes for a moment, because really, even if he was as blind as Leela had once been, this sunrise would still be just as magnificent. The smell of her hair matched the scent of the wild. He was able to hold her with a complete sense of calm. There were no wars to fight, and he didn’t even have to worry that anything would interrupt them.

It was, in a word, perfect.

He opened his eyes to find that Leela had turned her head and was gazing up at him. A small smile played upon her lips. Narvin couldn’t help but smile back. How easy it was for her to elicit a smile from him. Once, he wouldn’t have smiled unless his life had depended on it.

“What?” he asked.

Leela’s grin widened. “It is good to see you at peace, Narvin.”

“I finally have a reason to be.” He pulled her closer to his side, his thumb lightly tracing patterns along her waist. A long time ago, he had considered her warmth strange and alien. Now, it was a comfort he didn’t want to live without.

Leela nestled into his side and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Even through two layers of fabric (because yes, even though he hadn’t worn his robes on this trek into the wildlands, anything less than two layers made him feel too exposed), the press of her lips awakened something in him that he still didn’t fully understand. He lifted his hand and let her hair fall through his fingers before softly kissing the top of her head. Leela lifted her head from his shoulder and turned her torso to face him, giving him a brief peck on the cheek. By the light dancing in her eyes, Narvin saw that this was becoming a game; and while playing any sort of game with Leela was dangerous because she either paraded her victory or grew bitter with defeat, he was only too willing to indulge her this time.

So he raised an eyebrow in challenge and kissed the tip of her nose. His insides practically seemed to melt as he drew away and saw Leela’s expression bloom with delight. She took his head in her hands and lowered it so she could place a different sort of kiss—lingering, tender, gentle—to his forehead.

There was a sense of gratitude in the gesture that Narvin didn’t miss. Anyone who knew him would say that being (dare he think it) _romantic_ was something far beyond his capabilities. But for Leela, he could be anyone or anything. She brought out things in him that he hadn’t even known were there, traits like courage and compassion among them.

So yes, even he, the removed, cowardly, analytic time lord, had absolutely no qualms about taking Leela’s chin in his hand, his touch so gentle that he barely felt her skin at all. It had nothing to do with control—Rassilon knew no one could ever control Leela—and everything to do with time. A moment when neither of them moved, when he could study every inch of her face and commit it to memory.

“Beautiful,” he found himself saying, the word hardly able to leave his mouth because of the breath that was stuck in his throat. It was a word he’d never used lightly, one he’d hardly ever used at all, in fact, and Leela seemed to recognise that as her gaze softened from playful to something rather akin to adoring. And though Narvin distinctly remembered that it was his turn in their little game, Leela suddenly shifted forward to capture his lips with hers. He couldn’t quite find it in him to care that she’d cheated.

Leela pulled away laughing and touched her forehead to his. “It has been a long time since I have felt like this.”

Narvin chuckled. “I don’t ever remember feeling like this.” Hesitantly, he lifted his hand and traced his fingertips along her jaw. This was all still so new, and while sometimes he was sure of what to do, other times it was hard to believe that he could touch her so tenderly or look into her eyes without having to restrain his feelings.

“We should leave the Capitol more often,” Leela said, leaning into his touch.

“Shirk my duties and leave the CIA in ruins?” He pretended to think about it. “What would Romana think?”

“This does not concern Romana.” There was a teasing note in her voice, yes, but a ring of finality too. “Let her think what she will.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were serious.”

Leela met his eyes. Narvin didn’t remove his hand. Already, he was getting used to how free they were allowed to be out here. With no prying eyes to observe them like there always inevitably were in the Capitol, there was no reason they should be separated by any kind of distance.

“Sometimes…” Leela frowned, concentrating. “…I wish that we didn’t have to stay here on Gallifrey. It is my home now, but there is always disaster here, and time lords are silly.”

“Silly?” Narvin repeated, unable to repress a chuckle even though her face was still serious.

“Yes.” Her eyes betrayed a deep concern. “We are here in the wildlands because being with me would cause the time lords to see you differently. Romana would understand, but most would not. It does not make sense.”

“I used to think the same way as them,” Narvin murmured, remembering a time when Leela had simply been “Andred’s savage” and he’d wondered what kind of spell she’d weaved over Andred to make him susceptible to such a silly weakness as love. Leela must have seen what those derogatory remarks had done to Andred, and was now concerned for what it would do to him.

He let out a sigh. “You want a simpler life. Isn’t that something we all wish for?”

Leela’s smile returned and she pressed his hand to her cheek. “I do not wish it often. Change and conflict are what I have always lived for, but with them come…uncertainty,” she said, uttering the last word carefully. “And uncertainty can mean death or separation or…” She trailed off, not meeting his eyes, her troubled frown in place once again.

Narvin had considered all of these things before; in fact, it seemed like they were always occupying a corner in the back of his mind. He hadn’t known that Leela was thinking the same things. She always kept her personal concerns buried far beneath the surface, but maybe here and now, when it was just them, she felt sure enough to give them voice.

“Let me worry about those things, Leela. It’s what I do.”

Just as he’d hoped, a smile twitched at her lips again.

“Whatever happens,” he continued, “we’ll be together.”

Leela took his hand and curled it into a loose fist. She kissed his knuckles with measured slowness, making Narvin’s hearts beat a little faster.

Finally, she rested her chin on his hand and met his gaze. “You do not need to worry either, Narvin. I will protect you. Always.”

It was amazing: this soft, gentle, vulnerable woman in front of him was also the most deadly warrior he’d ever known.

“These days, it’s not myself I worry about.”

She drew close to him again, her nose brushing against his as she ran her fingers through his hair and finally settled her hand on the back of his neck. “Then I will protect both of us.”

The implication that he couldn’t protect a thing made him laugh because it was true. She could fight a thousand times better than he ever could.

Despite that, he’d fight to his dying breath for Leela.

“I—” He hesitated, drawing in a trembling breath, his heartbeats thundering in his ears. She already knew; he’d said it before, through every touch and every kiss. Regardless, the words were almost too much for him to speak.

“I love you, Leela.”

It was like a reflex reaction, the way she pulled him to her so that their lips collided perfectly. She kissed him urgently like they’d never kissed before and never would again. Her frantic breathing matched his own, but somehow he still found breath to tell her that he loved her again and again, and she found space to breathe his name in between their lips crashing together in kisses that each lasted a lifetime, until finally, Leela’s hand was on his chest as she inhaled precious air. With their fingers now intertwined, Narvin could feel the rapid pulse racing at her wrist. He pulled her closer, guiding her head to rest over his hearts, and gently stroked her hair.

“Does this mean I win?” he asked.

Leela’s shoulders shook with laughter. She wrapped her arms around him. “So you simply used those words to gain an advantage?”

Narvin nearly choked at the horror of the thought. “N-No, of course not—”

But Leela only giggled more. She looked up at him, beaming, as her laughter subsided. “Oh, Narvin. I love you too.”

He cherished the words, let them fill him with a sense of belonging and comfort that he’d never known. His sins were many—he didn’t deserve this, deserve _her—_ but somehow they were all washed away as he stared into the depths of love in her eyes. He kissed her slowly and gently until he was so transfixed that he couldn’t even move anymore. All he could do was close his eyes and drink in her very presence.

Leela pressed a kiss to his cheek and then, with a triumphant grin in her voice, whispered in his ear: “I win.”


End file.
